


Moonshine

by InsaneJuliann



Category: Marvel
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Werewolves, WinterIron Spring Fling, no superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 00:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19074238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneJuliann/pseuds/InsaneJuliann
Summary: Tony's a werewolf and a single dad, which means he doesn't have much time for the dating scene. But a small push from friends leads to him meeting Bucky. Totally human, great, and very interested Bucky. And for the first time in a while, Tony's interested in more than just a life that orbits around only his daughter.





	Moonshine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blue_pointer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_pointer/gifts).



> Thank you for such wonderful prompts - I was very inspired by them. I hope you enjoy this, and it fills your single dad AU and werewolf prompt-needs. :)

**Part One: Crescent**

Nikki had been sick for the past three days with a stomach bug she’d probably picked up from preschool. Nikki, like any child, hated being sick, and was especially miserable from throwing up, not sleeping well, and missing a magic show that had come to visit her class.

She was finally feeling better, it seemed. No fever, and she hadn’t thrown up since late the previous night. Most of the day she’d slept, and when not asleep she’d been grumpy and clingy. Tony was glad he’d always been good at splitting his attention between multiple projects – and writing with one hand. He read and signed paperwork Pepper sent his way from R&D, and stroked Nikki’s hair – or fur if she’d shifted to curl up in his lap – while watching Inside Out.

(“Anger’s m’ fav’rite,” she told him, and Tony had chuckled and said, “Why’s that?” Her favorite changed almost every time she watched the movie – it’d been sadness two days ago. “Cause. He gets to smash stuff and then he feels better,” Nikki told him.)

He managed to get her to eat half of a bowl of chicken noodle, and she only picked out the celery. Too crunchy and gross, she said. Since she ate the carrots, Tony decided to never push her about the celery.

They spent the weekend letting her recover the rest of the way from being sick, resting a lot on the couch together or shifted and curled up in a nest of blankets on the floor and watched a bunch of movies – but nothing sad, because Nikki didn’t feel like being sad. They watched Toy Story and Mary Poppins and Inside Out some more. By Monday, Nikki’s energy was fully restored, and she was eager to see her friends and teacher at preschool again.

Tony visited R&D, helping figure out a battery problem, and managed to get back to the penthouse in time for Happy to return from picking Nikki up from preschool. Tony immediately stopped making the cheese and cracker and meat platter for her to snack on, and went to kneel down in front of her when he saw her ruddy cheeks and wet lashes.

“What’s wrong, pumpkin pie?”

She sniffled and rubbed a fist over her eyes. “I missed the magic show.”

Tony hesitated. She’d been upset about that when she was sick, but seemed to have forgotten about it and been excited to go to preschool this morning.

“I know,” he said.

“Kimmy saids it was th’ most fun _ever_ , an’ Greg saids they got magic wandses, and –“ She sniffed sharply, bottom lip trembling a little. “I wanted to see the magic show, Daddy.”

Tony gathered her in his arms and picked her up. He settled her on his hip and went to the living room, sitting with her on the couch. Turning on the TV, he pulled up youtube and searched for kids magic shows. Some looked better than others, but he picked the one with the little girl from Britain’s Got Talent.

“I know it’s not the same, but we can still watch some magic shows right here, pumpkin. Okay?”

She sniffled, and turned her face from where it was tucked into his neck to watch the TV. “Okay,” she said quietly after a few moments. Tony sat with her through the first video, selected another one when it was done, and shifted her off his lap onto the couch. She’d calmed down, though she still seemed a little sad. Tony went to the kitchen to finish the snack platter only to find Happy sitting at his kitchen table with a cup of coffee, and the platter all finished in front of him.

“How she doing Boss?”

“A little better,” Tony said, coming over and picking up the large plate. “Thanks,” he added.

“No problem at all.”

Tony went back to the living room to put the snack tray in front of Nikki. He sat with her for a bit, and they made and shared some cracker-cheese-meat sandwiches. Reassured that she was okay still, Tony went back to the kitchen and sat down next to Happy with a heavy sigh.

“It would be overdramatic and not the best parenting choice to hire a magic show just for her right now, right?” he said.

“Uh yeah. Not the best move, I’d think,” Happy said, sounding amused. “Besides, I think what upsets her more is that her friends got to see it and she didn’t.”

Tony chewed on the inside of his cheek, thinking. He couldn’t think of an immediate solution, though, so he tabled it for now.

“I still have some paperwork to finish up. Are you okay watching her for a little longer?”

“Sure,” Happy said. “As long as we watch _anything_ but Inside Out. Again. I think I had a dream about that movie – or more like a nightmare.”

Tony laughed and clapped Happy on the shoulder. He poked his head into the living room again.

“I have to go finish up some work down in my office, pumpkin. I’ll be back in two hours at most. Uncle Happy’s going to watch you until then, okay?”

“Uh huh,” she said, eyes glued to whatever magic show was currently showing.

“Alright. Love you pumpkin.”

“Love you too Daddy.”

 

~*~*~

 

Tony’s week continued with paperwork, R&D, and Nikki’s now seemingly unending obsession with magic shows. Happy was glad for the break from Inside Out (and okay, maybe Tony was a bit too). Tony was kind of glad that Nikki seemed less upset again about missing the class magic show, which was probably helped, he realized, by the class preparing for the upcoming school carnival. He got the notice on Thursday; it was summer themed, and taking place half an hour after the end of the school day. Nikki only had morning preschool, so if she wanted to go Tony’d have to bring her back later in the day.

He told Pepper about it during their meeting Friday afternoon.

Her smile was soft as she looked at the flyer. “That sounds like fun for her.”

“Yeah, I think it will be. And it’s distracted her from missing the magic show, so. Win-win.”

“I missed my first field trip to the pumpkin patch as a kid,” Pepper said. “I cried about it all day.”

“Why’d you miss it?”

Pepper’s nostalgic smile turned sharp and devious. “Well. I’d bitten another kid in class and got suspended.”

“No,” Tony said, with an overly dramatic gasp. “You? Bite someone? I don’t believe it.”

“You better,” Pepper said, shaking a finger at him. “That boy had been picking on my best friend all day for her new glasses. I still refuse to think I did anything wrong.”

Tony laughed, delighted. “Of course not.”

“It ended up alright,” Pepper said, leaning back. “My mom took me to the pumpkin patch herself that weekend, and that was even more fun.”

“I thought about hiring a magic show, but that seemed….”

“Overdramatic?”

“Yeah.”

“A little. But hey, why not see if any of the public libraries or something have that kind of thing going on? With summer coming up, they usually have a ton more programming than usual.”

“Huh. Hadn’t thought of that.”

Pepper smiled, straightening up in her seat. “You two could go do it together. Maybe check out some books on magic tricks too while there.”

“Nikki would probably like that,” Tony admitted.

Pepper turned to her computer, saying, “They usually post the next few months programming in advance on their-“ She cut off when there was a knock on the door and someone poked their head through.

“Busy?”

“For you? Never,” Pepper said happily, standing up and walking over. She greeted Natasha with a chaste kiss. “What are you doing?”

“I got off work early. Thought I’d come hang out in your office and keep you company until the end of the day.”

“That sounds fantastic.”

Tony stood up, giving Nat a small hug and kiss on the cheek. “She’s in a good mood,” he said teasingly. “She just closed a big deal with one of the top toy stores in the city.”

Pepper got a huge grin just at the mention of it, rightfully proud of the accomplishment. “We’re going to kill it this year at Christmas.”

Tony let himself out, going to his office to make sure he didn’t have any pressing paperwork or new emails of emergency from R&D. Since nothing was there, he went back to his penthouse, and Nikki, who was hanging out with Tony’s favorite intern and babysitter, Peter Parker.

Peter’s homework was spread out on the living room table, while Nikki was watching Inside Out. Ah well. The break had been nice while it lasted.

“Oh, hey Mr. Stark,” Peter said when he saw him. He shot a glance at Nikki, as if making sure she hadn’t somehow vanished, and then said, “We’re cool up here. Everything’s been fine. Well – she got upset when I almost couldn’t find the movie, but I did. Obviously. So we’re good.”

Tony grinned, resisting the urge to ruffle at Peter’s head. “Good work. How’s the homework going?”

Peter’s head dropped back and he groaned loudly. Nikki shushed him with a little glare before focusing back on the movie quickly. Quieter, Peter said, “I hate calculus.”

Chuckling, Tony sat down on the couch. “What’s stumping you? Maybe I can help.”

“Oh, you don’t have to, Mr. Stark, really, I’m sure you-“

“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to, Peter,” Tony said gently. “Now. Let’s see it.”

After half an hour of helping Peter understand the new equation he’d been learning in calc, trying to convince him to let Happy or someone drive him home and failing, and instead extracting a promise that Peter would text him when he got home safely or if he changed his mind and needed someone to get him, Tony decided Friday night was a good excuse to order pizza for dinner.

Nikki, when he told her of the plan, cheered with exuberant enthusiasm.

Now that the very-human Peter had left, Nikki shifted. She gave a little jump to catch the edge of the throw blanket on the back of the couch in her jaws and started tugging at it with determined little growls.

“Want help?” Tony offered.

She growled louder, so Tony held up his hands to show he wasn’t going to do it for her. With some last very hard tugs, she managed to pull most of the blanket off and gravity took care of the rest. Pleased, she all but pranced around the couch, pulling the blanket behind her. Tony watched as she shoved it around for a few minutes until she had a nice blanket nest set up, and then she curled up in it to keep watching the movie.

It took some convincing, but Tony got her to shift back to eat the pizza.

 

~*~*~

 

“Tony, I say this because we’re friends, and Pepper loves you like a brother.”

“Okay,” Tony said cautiously, eyeing Nat. It was the day of the school’s carnival, and Pepper and Nat had joined Tony and Nikki in attending. Pepper and Nikki were currently standing in line for cotton candy. Nat stared at him over the top of her sunglasses, looking very unimpressed.

“You need a life outside of your kid.”

“Hey, I-“

“When’s the last time you took a night off from being ‘daddy’ to just have some fun? To go run shifted in the woods with us adults only?”

“Look, I-“

“Tony,” Nat interrupted, voice gentle. “You’re a great parent. But you _are_ allowed to take some time just for you, too.”

Tony was quiet, looking away from Nat and back at where Nikki was taking a giant bit of her cotton candy. Some stuck to her nose.

“I know. But I’ve tried it before. I just worry about her most of the time I’m gone. And dating… a lot of people don’t want to, or can’t, accept Nikki as part of the experience. And when if I date a human… she’s really only recently gotten to understand not to shift in front of them, and she could still slip up.”

“It’s been two years since the last time you dated someone. Pepper worries about you, you know.”

“Low blow,” Tony muttered. Nat just smirked, quirking a brow, entirely unrepentant. Tony sighed. “Fine. Clearly you’re leading somewhere with this, so get to it.”

Nat grinned. “My friend Steve has an art show. After, we’re going to hang out at one of the less busy bars he likes and have some drinks and bar food. Pepper’s coming with me. You should too.”

“And third wheel?”

“And _meet_ some people. You know. Make friends with people that aren’t your lifelong friends and makeshift pack of Pepper, Happy, and James? Your daughter’s babysitter doesn’t count as a new friend,” she added with narrowed eyes when Tony opened his mouth.

Tony rolled his eyes. “You make me sound so lame.”

“You kinda are.” She pecked his cheek. “But we love you anyway. And you love us, which is why you’re _going_ to come with us to hang out next Saturday.”

Tony debated, chewing the inside of his cheek. Next weekend was when Nikki would be with her mother for a rare visit. Which Nat probably knew, and why she’d decided to invite Tony along. He was always kind of at loose ends when Nikki wasn’t around for a weekend.

Their home felt empty and too quiet, and he felt restless and anxious. Christine was human, but she knew about the werewolf thing. How could she not, with Nikki? Still, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with handling Nikki’s shifting and playing as wolf, and what if Nikki shifted somewhere other people could see?

Going out for the night… might help distract him from all those worries, and his – his loneliness without Nikki.

“Alright,” he agreed, giving a dramatic sigh and roll of his eyes. He knew Nat probably saw right through his faked reluctance. “I guess I can put in an appearance.”

Then Nikki was running up, and he caught her in his arms, lifting her onto his hip in a move that was now effortless. He didn’t miss the questioning look Pepper gave Nat, or the way Nat’s smirk made Pepper grin back.

He knew they meddled out of care.

 

~*~*~

 

When Christine showed up at the door to pick up Nikki, she raised a brow and gave Tony a once-over. “Wow, you actually look nice for once.”

“I always look nice,” Tony said, which just made Christine laugh.

“In the past four years, you have embraced the whole – dad thing. Including dressing like one.”

“Is that an insult?” Tony asked, looking down at Nikki. “Do you think Chrissy is insulting how I dress?”

“It’s okay – you can tell your dad he dresses like a dork.”

Tony gasped in mock outrage, and Christine smirked, and Nikki giggled between them. Tony crouched down and nuzzled their noses together, kissed her forehead, and wrapped her up in a tight hug. She held him back, burying her face in his neck.

“You be good for your mom,” he told her. “I’ll see you Sunday night. Have fun.”

“Okay.” She stepped back, and held Christine’s hand when she held it out.

“You have fun too,” Christine teased.

Tony rolled his eyes, waved goodbye to Nikki, and watched them walk away for a minute. Soon though he went back inside to finish getting ready, hands tingling with a kind of nervous energy. Nat hadn’t been wrong when she said that Tony hadn’t been out for a long time, and he wasn’t sure if it was nerves or excitement or a mix of both that were assaulting him now.

A few minutes later, he got a text from Christine. _I sure hope you’re finally going to get laid again._ He sent back several angry emojis, then a few middle finger ones just to really drive the point home. She sent back a laughing-crying emoji.

He took a Lyft to the bar Pepper had texted him the address of. It was dark enough outside that the lights were all on now. Tony could feel the moon’s light, weak as it was with the new moon closer than not anymore. Still, he couldn’t help looking up for a moment, searching it out, and taking a deep breath. It was just a folk story that werewolves _had_ to shift with the moon. But their own origin legends all centered around the moon, giving them the gift to control this change, to let their own shapes eb and flow between one state and the other. Maybe it was the old predator instincts of long ago, but Tony could always feel the energy from the moon. Right now it was as strong, not due to the phase of the moon, but because it was closer to earth at this moment.

He let that energy fill him, give him some confidence to step inside. Still, he was that his friends were easy to spot – Nat hadn’t been lying about it being not particularly crowded – so he didn’t have to look around for them too hard. He’d met Steve once or twice before, and of course Pepper and Nat’s red hair stood out from a crowd. There were a few other people with them that he didn’t know, likely friends of Steve’s.

As Tony came over, Pepper saw him and raised an arm, calling out a greeting. One of the guys Tony didn’t know turned around and – wow.

Okay. Maybe Christine had a point and he really needed to get laid because no one should make him feel as off balance as this. He wasn’t some kid getting to talk to his first big crush or something here. He hadn’t even said hi to the guy. But god he was gorgeous – hair just above shoulder length, beautiful eyes, and a very distracting mouth.

“Tony!” Pepper said again when he was next to the group. She placed a big, almost too wet, kiss on his cheek. Clearly the drink in her hand was not her first. Tony leaned back a bit to shoot Nat a look, who just shrugged at him, looking at Pepper with helpless fondness.

Pepper introduced the people he didn’t know, but the one he really cared about was – “And this is Bucky, Steve’s like… he’s like Steve’s Rhodey!”

Bucky smiled, though he looked a little confused by that, and reached out to shake Tony’s hand.

“Hi. Nice to meet ya.”

“Yeah, you too.” Tony’s throat felt dry.

“Can I get you a drink?” Bucky offered, smiling brightly and eyes locked on Tony’s and oh boy. There was no mistaking what was on the table to happen here.

“Yes, you can,” Tony said, stepping forward and linking an arm through Bucky’s. “What would you suggest I have?” They walked up to the bar itself, Bucky chuckling, and Tony decided that he was going to let himself see where this could go. Bucky was human, Tony could tell that with one discreet scenting, but… he smelled really good, and was showing some interest in Tony, and maybe his friends were right. Maybe he could start dating again, spend some nights out with someone he was interested in.

He let himself remember that energy of a close moon, the weak light of a waning moon, and the legends his mom had told him about how they were the children of moonlight, blessed by it to adapt to anything. Pulling that all around him, letting it fill him with a kind of confidence, Tony leaned against the bar and tilted his chin towards Bucky, letting a bit of neck display (a flirtation that would go over Bucky’s head, but Tony didn’t mind it).

“So. What are we getting, handsome?”

 

~*~*~

 

“I talked about my kid for two hours,” Tony moaned, forehead pressed flat against the kitchen table. Pepper grunted on his left, cradling the cup of coffee Nat had made her first, eyes squinted mostly closed.

“I drank more than I have since college. Who the fuck let me do that?” Pepper grumbled.

“Natasha,” Tony said.

“You _both_ needed to get out and let loose,” Nat said, entirely unapologetic, even as she placed a cup of coffee in front of Tony. “You both suck at having a life outside of responsibilities.”

“I think I’m offended,” Pepper said after a moment. “When I’m not so hungover, I’m going to be offended.”

“You do that,” Nat said dryly. She sat down with her own cup, sipping at it. Tony wondered if it could even be called coffee; it had a mountain of whipped cream on top, and he knew that Natasha added flavored syrups and chocolate sauce and milk to it. It was probably more hot chocolate than coffee. He wisely never said that to her though.

“Look, a night of having fun and drinking a bit more than advisable isn’t going to hurt you beyond the hangover, Pepper, and you had fun.” Turning to Tony, she raised a brow. “And Bucky sure didn’t seem to mind your inability to talk about anything as much as you do your pup.”

“Sure, while he was probably drinking as much as I was. In the light of day? He’s probably regretting that choice.”

Rolling her eyes, Natasha said, “You two enjoy your pity party. I’m going to get ready for the gym.”

Tony made a face and Pepper groaned. Nat left them there, silently sipping their coffee. Tony didn’t move until several minutes after he heard Nat go out the door of Pepper’s apartment.

“Do I still have clothes here?”

“Probably from the last time Rhodey was here and we went for a run in the park.”

That had been a year ago. Natasha had volunteered to stay behind and watch Nikki for the night. Tony had come back to his three year old with kool-aid dyed hair and an unrepentant Natasha.

“If I do, I’m stealing your shower.”

Pepper waved him away. Tony went to find said clothes – they were in a drawer in the guest room – and then let himself stand in the shower for much longer than he should. The water felt good and woke him up a bit more, and getting clean made him feel a bit more human. By the time he came out, Pepper had made some fried eggs and toast for them to eat. While Tony finished his, she went to shower.

Tony startled when his phone chimed with a text notification. He checked it immediately – it could be from Christine – and found it from an unknown number.

_Hope you’re not too hungover this morning. I had fun last night._

Then, as Tony looked, a second text.

_This is Bucky. I don’t think we got around to both exchanging numbers._

“Huh,” Tony mused. He debated for a moment, but then responded.

 _I feel like death, but I think I’ll survive._ Then, after another bit of hesitation, _I had fun too. I kind of worried I scared you off though._

_Nah._

Tony drummed his fingers on the table. He was – interested. More interested in Bucky than he’d been in anyone for a while. But he had Nikki to think about. He couldn’t just… rush into this. He had to make sure Bucky really wasn’t going to be scared off by the fact that Tony was a package deal, and that the other part of the package was always going to be Tony’s highest priority.

After a while, he decided just to… tell Bucky that.

_I’m really interested in getting to know you more, without alcohol involved. But I have Nikki. We’d have to take some time, go slow. Is that okay? If not, no hard feelings. I just need to know._

He watched the text bubbles appear and disappear after a couple minutes. Then there was another long wait.

_Your kid comes first, I get it. We can get to know each other a bit more first if that’ll make you more comfortable. But you having a kid isn’t going to scare me off._

Tony couldn’t help the smile on his face, not even when Pepper came back in after her own shower and immediately called him out on looking like a sappy idiot and it not even being noon.

 

~*~*~

 

Almost as soon as Christine dropped Nikki off, Nikki was yanking off her clothes and shifting. She pawed at Tony’s ankles, whining at him, making little yips for attention. Tony smiled, bending down to scratch through the fur of her neck and kiss the top of her head.

“Let me put your things away, pup.” He grabbed her bags as he straightened, and took them to her room. The clothes went in the laundry hamper, and the blanket and pillow and stuffed animal went back on the bed. Nikki wove around through his feet the whole time, impatient.

They settled on a nest of blankets on the floor, shifted and curled up together in a patch of moonlight from the window. Inside Out played on the TV, even while Nikki instead crawled all over Tony, nipping at his ears and trying to playfully wrestle him. By the last half hour of the movie, though, she was curled up against his belly, fast asleep. Tony shifted back, turning off the TV, picking Nikki up and carrying her to her bed.

His phone had a few messages on it, when he checked. One was from Pepper about a meeting coming up; one from Christine just stating she was about to board her flight to LA. Two were from Bucky, and Tony knew what that twist in his chest meant. He hadn’t felt it in a while, since before Nikki was born, but it didn’t matter. Maybe Natasha had been right – it was time for Tony to let himself give a serious try to building up a life that was more than just Nikki and work.

Tony crawled under his own blankets, and started texting Bucky back.

 

~*~*~

 

**Part Two: Waxing**

 

“You’re sure you don’t mind watching her?” Tony asked, again, and Peter gave him a weird look.

“Mr. Stark, I told you I was free to watch her tonight. Like, five times before I even got here.”

“It’s summer. You’re supposed to be, like – getting into shenanigans with your friends. Or something."

Peter snorted. “If you ask MJ she says Ned and I are total dorks who don’t have a life.”

Tony was pretty sure MJ was the girl Peter had a crush on – he talked about her a lot, especially the past few months – but what he said was, “She sounds like Nat.”

Peter grinned. “Ms. Romanov calls you a dork?”

“She calls me a lot of things,” Tony said, distracted as his phone buzzed. Bucky was downstairs. His fingers drummed against his thigh as he glanced into the living room again at where Nikki was finishing 101 Dalmatians. He’d told Nikki he was going to have some fun with a friend – then had to explain that no, it wasn’t Uncle Rhodey, or Aunt Pepper or Aunt Nat, it was a new friend – and that Peter was going to hang out tonight. She’d seemed okay with it, until he’d started getting ready. Then she’d gotten fussy, so he’d sat down to watch a movie with her.

He’d not had time to do his hair after his shower, and he’d just thrown on the first t-shirt that didn’t have a graphic on it or holes in it that he saw. His jeans were brand new, because he’d bought them just for tonight a week ago, while taking Nikki shopping for new clothes. Casual, but nice, but he could probably have dressed better and-

“Mr. Stark,” Peter said, sounding super amused. “You’re gonna be late for your date.”

Tony startled a little, glancing down with wide eyes at his phone – he hadn’t responded to Bucky and it’d been a few minutes and –

“Shit,” he muttered, then winced and checked to make sure Nikki wasn’t paying attention. He still needed to let her know he was leaving now, and hope she didn’t get upset again, and-

Peter made a noise that Tony was pretty sure was a muffled laugh, and went into the living room. He fell onto the couch next to Nikki, asking her about the movie she was watching.

Swallowing, Tony went in after him and bent over to kiss the top of Nikki’s head. “Okay. I’m gonna go see my new friend now. I’ll be home after Peter puts you to bed.”

Nikki pouted. “Can’t I stay up till you’re home daddy?”

“No, sorry pumpkin.” Tony kissed the tip of her nose, making her scrunch up her face but laugh a little. “But remember, we’re gonna have a special breakfast in the morning, just you and me. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed. Tony glanced at Peter, who rolled his eyes at him.

“Yes, I’m sure,” he said. “And yeah, I know all the numbers, and I’ll call if anything happens, and the money for dinner is in the usual place.” He gave Tony a look, a very teenage “see? I know everything, so there” kind of look. Tony narrowed his eyes a bit and gave a little shove to Peter’s shoulder.

“Yeah, alright kid, you got this.”

“I do,” Peter said, sounding a bit smug.

Tony stood up, taking a deep breath. He grabbed his leather jacket on the way out the door, checked he had his wallet and everything, and then stepped out.

 Bucky was downstairs, leaning back against a motorcycle, tapping away at his phone with a look of concentration. Tony took another deep breath before he stepped through the door to make his way over. Bucky looked up when Tony was a few feet away and smiled, big, bright, beautiful.

Tony’s throat felt a little dry.

“Hi,” Tony said, ridiculously, a little breathlessly. “Sorry I – Nikki and uh, go over things with Peter. The babysitter.”

“It’s fine,” Bucky said, still with that smile. He reached back for a helmet and passed it to Tony. “Ready?”

“Yeah,” Tony said. He pulled the helmet on and buckled it into place while Bucky mounted the bike. He watched Tony as he stepped forward and climbed on behind Bucky. Bucky put his own helmet on as Tony shifted forward, closer to Bucky, and wrapped his arms around him. Bucky felt solid and warm, and Tony let himself take a deep breath of his scent. There was a bit of metal-grease scent to him, maybe from the bike or from work. Bucky had told him he worked as a mechanic but also restored old cars and sold them to collectors.

Under that, though, there was something that made Tony think of maple or something similar – thick, warm, rich scented. It was a very nice smell, one that brought to Tony’s mind the memory of winter nights spent with Jarvis and his wife, eating fresh baked sweets, the carpet in front of the fireplace.

The bike revved under him, and Tony tightened his grip as they took off. Bucky drove with competent ease – Tony wouldn’t like and say that that wasn’t a turn on – and it wasn’t too long before they reached a coffee shop that Bucky swore by.

He had to be telling the truth about liking the place, because one of the baristas greeted him by name when Bucky walked in behind Tony. The both ordered drinks and pastries, and went to a small table with comfortable wicker chairs tucked into a corner by a window. The lighting was low and warm, without being dim, and it wasn’t dark yet outside, with how the summer days stretched so late.

For a few minutes, it was a bit awkward. Tony wasn’t sure what to talk about that didn’t somehow circle back to work, or to Nikki, and Bucky’s earlier ease seemed to have dimmed. They found their way, though, sharing stories about their friends. First Steve and Nat, since they knew them both, and then Bucky was telling Tony about Steve as a teenage punk – his words, not Tony’s – and Tony told about the things he and Rhodey would get up to at MIT.

It was nice. It felt a lot like the times Tony would meet up with Rhodey and they’d catch up, or talk about mutual friends and old fond memories. Low-pressure and comfortable. It still wasn’t very dark when they finally left. Tony was kind of sad the night was already wrapping up, but he also didn’t want to leave Nikki alone for too long.

When they stepped outside, the night sky was finally starting to dim, and the moon was full and creeping higher into the sky. Tony looked up at it, let some of its light soak into him. It was shifting farther away again. That didn’t mean Tony didn’t also feel the buzz of moonlight in his veins, the childish need to let it out through shifting and running and playing coming over him.

He came back to himself hen the warmth of Bucky’s hand landed on his back. “Okay?” he asked.

Tony smiled at him. “Yeah. I’m great.”

They drove back, and Tony knew Bucky was taking a slightly longer route but didn’t complain. He let himself nuzzle into Bucky’s back, between his shoulders, and closed his eyes.

“I really did have a good time tonight,” Bucky said when they finally stopped and turned the bike off. “And I _really_ wanna see you again like this.”

“Me too. It’s just – I have to make sure it’s going to be okay for Nikki. She had a bit of a hard time with me leaving tonight.” Which might have had something to do with the strength of a full moon’s moonlight spilling energy into her, now that Tony thought about it.

“It’s okay,” Bucky said, reaching out to squeeze Tony’s hand. “I told you before – I don’t mind going slow if that’s what you and her need.”

Tony smiled, looking at their hands laced together, and tightened the grip a little. “Thanks.” He licked his lips. “She’s going to be with her mom for the weekend in two weeks. Maybe… we could have a whole movie and dinner date then?”

“That sounds great,” Bucky agreed, giving Tony the bright, beaming smile from the start of the night. He leaned in, pressing a very chaste kiss to his cheek. Tony pushed back the urge to turn his face, to make it a more personal, intimate kiss. He needed to see first how this all worked with Nikki tomorrow, and how she handled tonight once Tony was actually gone.

“I’ll see you then, in that case,” Bucky said quietly. He let go of Tony’s hand as he stepped back.

Tony nodded. “Yeah. We can work out more details later.” He took a step back towards the building. “Text me when you get home, please.”

Bucky’s grin turned fond and maybe a little amused. “Of course. G’night Tony.”

“Night,” Tony echoed back, and stepped back again, turning for the door. He looked over his shoulder as he stepped through, listening to the rev of Bucky’s bike, watching as he waved and then drove away.

Everything was quiet when Tony stepped through the door of his home. He put his keys and wallet on the hall table, and peeked into the kitchen then living room. He didn’t see Peter in either place, which was a bit unusual. Frowning to himself, Tony headed for Nikki’s room. He paused in the doorway, smiling and leaning against the jam. He pulled his phone out to take a picture of the two of them. Nikki was sprawled over Peter’s chest; Peter was snoring slightly, mouth hanging open. Around them on the bed were a bunch of picture books.

Tony sent a text to Peter’s aunt, May, first of the picture and then asking if it was fine if he just let Peter sleep there for the night. She said it was fine as long as he came home before it was dinner tomorrow.

Tony’d get a report from Peter tomorrow about how well Nikki handled everything. The fact that Peter was in her bed with her probably meant she hadn’t wanted to go to sleep, and Tony was pretty sure part of that was because Tony didn’t often miss her bedtime. Maybe, unless she was with Pepper and Nat, or her mom, he’d try to make any future dates during the day. Hopefully Bucky wouldn’t mind that.

 

~*~*~

 

Tony and Bucky managed some more dates over the summer, through the start of Nikki’s last year in preschool, and even a skype date when Tony had to go to a conference across the country for a week. Tony teased Bucky that he has skype dates with Nikki every night, but Bucky just asked how Nikki was which made Tony’s heart melt a little more. He told Bucky about how Nikki’s increasing excitement as Halloween approached – her favorite holiday, possibly because cartoon network and ABC Family play Scooby Doo shows way more often, including her favorite Scooby Doo movie with the school of supernatural creatures. Bucky asked if she’d already decided what she wants to be for the holiday.

“Last year she was a witch,” Tony said. “This year she keeps jumping between a dragon or Joy from Inside Out. Nat suggested she be a cat and Nikki was so offended she ignored her for a whole day.”

Bucky laughed.

So things were going well. Bucky never minded when Tony went on and on about Nikki – he’d in fact ask after her almost every time they talked – and they’d gone on dates more regularly as time passed and Nikki got more comfortable with Tony not always being home to put her to bed. Christine kept teasing him when she managed to be in New York long enough to spend some time with Nikki, and Nat and Pepper smirked and teased him about ‘hearteyes’ when he talked about Bucky with them, and overall… it was going so well that Tony had to wonder if another shoe was going to drop. It had to, sooner or later, right?

 

~*~*~

 

“Hey, there’s a concert in the park next Thursday afternoon,” Bucky said. “I’ve got the day off of work so how about we go? We can get some Chinese to go and eat it there.”

“That sounds nice,” Tony said. It did – the weather was cooler than it had been this week, the park was beautiful this time of year as the leaves started changing color, and Tony hadn’t seen Bucky for an in-person date in over two weeks.

“Awesome,” Bucky said happily. “How about I pick you up at one then and-“

Reality hit Tony suddenly. “No wait, I can’t that day, Nikki’s out of school for fall break. I took the week off of work because I promised her we’d spend time together and – “

“Oh,” Bucky said, sounding a little surprised. Tony felt – not devasted of course, but definitely let down. He _wanted_ to go on this date with Bucky. He missed seeing him, beyond their texts and phone calls and skype dates. Bucky was quiet for a bit, and Tony could only hope he wasn’t too upset. Tony wasn’t about to apologize for promising the whole week to Nikki though. It was a new moon, and they were going to leave Monday to go camping for three days, somewhere that they could both shift and run and chase each other freely.

“Okay,” Bucky said finally. “How about we all go to the zoo then?”

For a moment, the words didn’t process. “What?”

“The zoo? That should be fun for Nikki, right? I mean,” and Bucky started to sound a little panicked, like he thought he’d just done something _wrong_ while Tony’s heart utterly melted at the same time his blood started buzzing excitedly. No one had ever tried to plan a date to include Nikki before. “I understand if you’re not comfortable with that or anything, so we can just-“

“No,” Tony interrupted. “No, I mean – that sounds really amazing, Bucky. You… you really wouldn’t mind her coming with us somewhere?” The zoo really would be more of a treat for her than them, Tony thought.

“If… if you’re okay with it,” Bucky said, slowly and quieter. “I’d really love to get to meet her. She’s important to you, and she sounds like a real awesome kid, Tony. I want to meet her, someday. But if you’re not ready for that, I get it.”

Tony licked his lips. “I’d love you two to finally meet,” he said honestly. It almost hurt how much he meant that. Nikki knew Bucky’s smell by this point, was past the ‘stranger smell so I don’t like it’ stage and was more curious than anything now. Sometimes when Tony was texting Bucky, she’d catch him at it and ask what they were talking about. (“You,” Tony had told her once. “And how much you love Scooby Doo. It was Bucky’s favorite show when he was little too.”)

They hashed out more details. They’d meet at the zoo Thursday, since Bucky’s bike was not kid friendly. They’d walk around in the early morning, eat some lunch, and depending on how Nikki was doing maybe walk around some more before all heading home.

Later that night, while they ate dinner, Tony brought it up to Nikki.

“So, Bucky wanted to ask if you’d like to come to the zoo with us next week.”

Nikki’s eyes went wide. “The zoo?”

“Yep,” Tony said. “Would you like that?”

Her head nodded so fast, some of her dark blonde hair got in her face. “Uh huh!” she said. “I wanna see the penguins! And the wolves daddy!”

“We can see both,” Tony said, smiling. “Finish your potatoes.”

Nikki immediately went to work eating them, like the zoo trip was going to happen as soon as she did. Tony bit back a smile and focused back on his own plate.

 

~*~*~

 

“Remember,” Tony said to Nikki after they got out of the Lyft car. He crouched down in front of her on the sidewalk, pretending to straighten her little sweater that Christine had bought her last time they’d had a few days together. “Bucky’s human and doesn’t know about werewolves. So we can’t tell him we’re werewolves, or shift in front of him, or growl.”

Nikki heaved a huge sigh. “Daddy, I _know_.”

“I know you do. I just wanted to remind you.” Especially since they’d been far less careful about shifting the past three days during their camping trip; Tony wasn’t sure how well she’d transition from shifting and acting however she wanted, to keeping it all a secret again.

She sighed again but wrapped her arms around his neck when he hugged her. “You smell different. Like you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared,” he told her. “But I am a little nervous. I love you so much, and I really like Bucky, and you two get to meet for the first time.”

“Is he nice?” Nikki pulled back and actually looked a little worried. “Do you think he’ll like me?”

“I think he’d be the silliest man alive to not like you. And he’s very nice.”

“So you don’t gotta be nerv’is Daddy, right?”

“Right.” Tony couldn’t help smiling. He kissed her forehead. “You’re so smart.” He stood up, taking her head, and lead the way to the front of the zoo. They only had to wait a couple minutes before Bucky showed up. He grinned when he saw Tony, and it stayed in place when he looked down at Nikki, but something flashed across his face.

Nerves, Tony realized, scenting him when he was finally close. Bucky was nervous about meeting Nikki.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Bucky said, kissing Tony’s cheek. Tony couldn’t help grinning – the petname was new, and they were well past cheek kisses but clearly Bucky was trying to keep things toned down for Nikki.

Bucky took a deep breath before crouching in front of Nikki. “Hi Nikki. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Hi,” she said, tugging Tony’s hand a little bit closer. She nuzzled it with her cheek a little, soothing herself by scent and gesture.

“I’m Bucky,” he continued, keeping a smile on his face – softer than the one he’d given Tony when approaching. “I got you a little present.”

Nikki perked up a little. “You did?”

“Yeah.” From the deep pocket of his jacket, Bucky pulled out a little rose. “Do you like flowers?”

Nikki’s eyes were wide as she let go of Tony’s hand to pick it up. “It’s real pretty. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Bucky smelled like relief, which was plain on his face when he looked up at Tony. He stood up, asking, “You guys ready?”

“Yes!” Nikki cheered, giving up trying to make the flower fit better behind her ear. “Let’s go, c’mon!” She grabbed Tony’s hand again and started tugging him towards the entrance. Tony laughed, reaching back to grab Bucky’s hand and pull him along too.

Nikki’s enthusiasm did not wane the whole few hours of the morning. She dragged them from exhibit to exhibit, insisting Tony ready every sign they saw. When she started saying her feet were hurting her, Bucky picked her up. He shot a glance at Tony, as if checking it was okay, and relaxed when Tony smiled at him. Bucky let Nikki direct him on where to go, but Tony soon suggested maybe getting some lunch.

“Yeah!” Nikki agreed easily. “I’m hungry! And after I can have some ice cream, you said so Daddy!”

“I said we could have ice cream after lunch if you were _good_ ,” Tony reminded her.

“I have been _very_ good,” Nikki said. She looked at Bucky, as if to get his confirmation of this. “Does that mean I get extra ice cream?”

Tony laughed. “Nice try, kiddo, but no.”

She sighed, heavily and sadly, and gave Bucky a full on puppy pout face. Bucky fought back a smile and turned his own kind of pout to Tony. Nikki quickly followed suit.

“Oh no,” Tony said dryly. “I’m being teamed up on here?”

“Maybe,” Bucky said, breaking into the grin finally.

“Let’s at least eat lunch before we make decisions about ice cream.”

They ate – Nikki managing to coerce a slurpee out of Bucky while they were there – and Tony managed to convince Nikki that it’d be best to get ice cream right before they left, so she couldn’t drop it while looking at the animals.

Things were going great, fantastic even.

So of course there was an incident when they got to the wolf exhibit.

It was later in the day, and the zoo was getting more crowded, the animals more likely to be hiding in their dens and sleeping after eating their own meals. Tony could see one of the wolves, laying in the dirt outside of a cave, probably sleeping or just relaxing in the shade there.

Nikki looked impatient. “Daddy, I can’t see them.”

“They’re probably tired, Nikki,” Tony said. “We may have to come see them another day, earlier.”

“Maybe they don’t know we’re here to see them,” Nikki said, straining up on their tiptoes. “We should let them know we’re here Daddy.” Before Tony could tell her they could probably smell there were people outside, she tipped back her head and howled.

Tony swear he felt the blood drain from his face in three seconds flat.

Nikki’s howl got the attention of the wolf on the ground in front of the cave at the back, and after several seconds it tilted it’s own head back in response. That wolf’s howl got a few more, one wolf appearing at the cave entrance and another dashing out from somewhere farther back that Tony hadn’t seen it to pounce on the first one, excited.

Bucky looked down at Nikki. “That was a very good howl Nikki,” he said, sounding impressed.

She turned to him, beaming brightly. “I’ve been practicin’!” She strained a bit on her tip toes again, delighted to watch the wolves play wrestle. Tony quickly tried to school himself back from his panic, keeping his face relaxed and calm and not at all worried. There was no reason for Bucky to think this was particularly strange. Kids did weird shit like that all the time. Nikki being very good at howling was odd, but not enough so to worry about.

His instincts weren’t as convinced of that as his rational mind was.

Tony tried not to make it obvious he was hurrying them along from the wolves before something else happened by saying, “You know, I think ice cream sounds good now.”

It distracted Nikki easily enough, and Bucky just laughed when she grabbed his hand to pull him along with her. Tony followed behind them, breathing deeply, glad to leave the wolves and any howling behind him.

Crisis averted.

 

~*~*~

 

**Part Three: Craters**

 

“So I was wondering,” Bucky said as they prepared the pies Pepper had put them in charge of for Thanksgiving. Steve, Sam, Shannon, and Nat had already worked on their dishes, and were busy setting the table. Tony could hear the playful conversation out there.

“You said Nikki’s mom was visiting her folks, so she has Nikki today,” he continued. He sounded cautious, which didn’t make Tony nervous, just curious.

“Yeah. When Christine’s in New York she stays at her parents’ home. Most of the time she’s out in LA for work.”

“I – I know it’s probably not my business. But… I was wondering about – that. Your guys’ relationship and Nikki and… all.”

Tony blinked, surprised. He didn’t know why he was, of course Bucky probably was curious about it, but he’d never really thought to talk about it. The important people in Tony’s life all knew, and had either been there for it or shortly after.

“I don’t mind,” Tony said quickly. “And I mean – you’re my boyfriend. It kind of is your business a little, since it’ll affect our relationship if it gets any more serious.”

Bucky placed a pie in the oven, while Tony put his pudding one in the fridge.

Leaning back against the counter, Tony grabbed Bucky’s hand and pulled him closer. Arms wrapping around his waist, Tony started to explain. “Christine and I were always like – on and off again. Kind of more like friends with benefits, and sometimes it was less friends and more frenemies. When I was younger and more of a party kid, before people lost interest in my life. My parents were pretty well known socialites here in New York, so my life growing up was very… public. Christine was a friend, and sometimes she’d write articles that included me and I hated that so sometimes we were less friends than not. But we knew each other, trusted each other, and were a safe hookup.”

Tony glanced at Bucky, gauging things so far. Bucky was just listening, curious and nonjudgmental.

“It was kind of messed up and complicated,” Tony admitted. “Like, present me would definitely try to talk past me out of thinking that kind of relationship was a good one to have.” He shrugged. “We were always careful but I guess got unlucky once. Christine found out she was pregnant.” Tony remembered the many conversations they’d had, over the phone and then in person, trying to decide what to do. “Christine wasn’t sure she wanted to be a mom, but she knew I’d always wanted kids. We decided to try.” Smiling ruefully, Tony looked up at Bucky. “We did not do great as a couple. But we both adored Nikki. Eventually, Christine decided she loved Nikki but she didn’t really think she wanted to be a mom, not like that. So Nikki’s mine, and she lives with me, and whenever Christine gets a chance to see her when she’s in New York, she usually tries to visit. Nikki knows Christine is her mom, but we’ve explained to her that Christine and I are just friends, and Christine’s job means she doesn’t live in New York. When she gets older she’ll probably have more questions about it all for us, but for now, we’re all happy.”

“That’s what matters most,” Bucky said, kissing Tony lightly on the lips. “Does Christine know about us?”

Tony rolled his eyes, grinning dryly. “The first night we met, Nikki was with her mom, and Christine texted me that I should use the chance to get laid. When I told her I’d be on a date that first time she had Nikki when we had a date planned, she almost cheered.”

Bucky laughed. He sounded a bit relieved, and Tony was sure there was more than just curiosity behind all of this. He squeezed Bucky’s waist and kissed him again, making it a long and very pleasant kiss, though definitely not too deep. It was still enough for Steve to groan when he walked into the kitchen and saw them.

“Seriously, you two are sickening,” he said, grabbing his inhaler off where he’d left it on the counter. “In the kitchen?”

“It’s just a kiss,” Bucky said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve caught you doing worse.”

“Yeah but at least I wasn’t in the kitchen,” Steve said, grinning cheekily.

Tony laughed, tugging Bucky back around and sliding a hand around the back of his neck. He licked his lips. “Ignore him,” he suggested, kissing Bucky again. Bucky made a pleased noise, and leaned in, deepening the kiss just a bit past what was probably appropriate for a meal at a friend’s house.

Steve groaned loudly.

Tony could feel Bucky’s grin against his lips.

 

~*~*~

 

Every time Bucky knew he’d see Nikki – either for a date she joined them on, or because he picked Tony up at the door – he brought her a flower, or a small bracelet, or once a little stuffed wolf. Tony managed to bite back a bit of a hysterical laugh at that, his heart racing a little fast.

This was the first time Bucky was having dinner at Tony’s place, while Nikki was there. Tony was only a little nervous. Mostly, he was excited. Some inner instinct really liked the idea of having Bucky here, in Tony’s home. To have Bucky’s scent _in_ Tony’s home, maybe on Tony’s things. On a chair at the table and the couch and maybe even a blanket. The plan was dinner, and then watching a movie with Nikki. Then Bucky would leave and Tony would put her to bed.

Nikki had been so excited about Bucky coming over that she’d been practically bouncing off the walls all day. Tony wondered if she’d fall asleep in the middle of the movie, or stay wound up until Bucky actually left.

 She’d changed her outfit three times by the time the doorbell went off.

“I’ll get it!” she shouted, running for the door full speed.

Tony bit back a curse and said, “Nikki, you know you’re not allowed to answer the door!”

He caught up with her just as she turned the handle. Bucky almost fell back when she crashed into his knees, squeezing them in a tight hug.

“Hi, sweetpea,” Bucky said when she finally let go, crouching down. He held out a little giftbag to her. “I got you something.”

Tony got a kiss from him while Nikki tore into the tissue paper. “Trying to bribe my kid Barnes?”

“Maybe,” Bucky teased.

Tony snorted, and pulled back to look down when Nikki let out a delighted squeal. She had one of those little headband flower crowns in her hands, eyes wide and delighted.

“Thank you Bucky!” she said, then to Tony demanded, “Put it on me!”

“Manners,” Tony reminded her.

She sighed and said, “Pl _ease?”_

Tony bent down to do as she’d asked, and also took the time to remind her, “You don’t open the door for people, Nikki. It’s to be safe.”

“But I knew it was Bucky Daddy,” she said, irritated sounding. “Bucky’s not a stranger so it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not still okay, because it’s a safety rule. You can’t open the door unless I say you can.”

Her face got a little scrunched, a little red. “But I knew it was Bucky and I wanted to see him!”

“It would have taken only a few more seconds to wait for me to get here or tell you to open it,” Tony said. “Next time, wait for me.”

She huffed and grumbled out a “fine.”

Tony decided to move the night along. He straightened, looking her over. She was wearing a dress that was probably way too fancy for dinner, but she’d wanted to “look nice” she had told him earlier.

“Well. You look just wonderful with your new flower crown,” he said now.

She beamed, bad temper forgotten, and hurried forward to grasp Bucky’s hand. She held it to her cheek, giving it a quick nuzzle, before pulling him along to show him her room and toys, probably.

Tony went to go check on dinner’s progress.

Dinner went well – they all talked, Nikki telling Bucky about her birthday coming up next week (and Bucky pretending he didn’t already know, as if Tony hadn’t been talking about it himself for the past month, and that Bucky hadn’t asked for the day off of work so that he could join them for the party in the park). They cleaned up quickly after, Nikki rushing to grab her favorite movie to put on to watch with Bucky there.

They were curled up on the touch, Bucky’s arm over Tony’s shoulders, Nikki wedged in between them on her own insistence. She kept starting to doze off during the movie only to jerk herself awake and quickly look up at Bucky, as if making sure he was still there. Nikki’s obvious love for Bucky made Tony feel something he’d never quite felt before. More intense than the warm comfort of having his closest friends there with him and Nikki. More intense than just seeing the two of them interacting on their little family date trips. Maybe, before, it’d have scared Tony. But… now?

It made Tony want things he hadn’t thought about wanting for years.

The movie ended. Nikki whined when Tony turned the TV off, turning to grab onto Bucky’s shirt tightly.

“One more movie,” she mumbled.

“Sorry pumpkin,” Tony said softly. “Bucky has to go home now so you can go to bed.”

“No,” she said grumpily.

Tony shot Bucky a slightly apologetic, but also amused look.

“Bucky can’t stay here, he has to go home. He doesn’t have any pajamas and clothes for tomorrow. Or a toothbrush. Maybe next time he’ll stay,” Tony said, half just to appease Nikki, half to offer that option to Bucky. When he cast a quick glance to him, Bucky was smiling softly.

His hand moved to rub Nikki’s back. “Sorry sweetpea, but I do have to go home tonight. I promise I’ll see you soon though okay?”

“No,” she whined, louder and more upset. Tony could scent it, her temper flaring, clashing with her exhaustion in a way that foretold a temper tantrum.

“Nikki,” he started, trying to soothe her, but it was too late. Nikki swatted his hand away when he reached for her, and then squirmed angrily when he kept reaching to gently pry her fingers off of Bucky’s shirt. “Nikki, pumpkin, Bucky has to go home, but you can see him soon. We’ll call him tomorrow after breakfast to plan out the next time, okay?”

Tony tried picking Nikki up, despite her flailing, and Bucky stood up from the couch, looking apologetic.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “Maybe I can just stay until-“

Tony gave a little shake of his head. “No, it’s okay. She needs to understand that sometimes people can’t stay just cause she wants them to. She’s just tired and grumpy.”

He sucked in a hissing breath when Nikki bit his arm.

“Nikki!” he scolded. “You know better than to bite people.”

With a loud, angry whine, Nikki twisted –

And shifted.

Bucky sucked in such a sharp breath Tony could hear it. Instinctively, Tony wrapped Nikki up tighter in his arms and pulled her closer to his chest, so he wouldn’t drop her. She kept squirming a bit, whining. Tony couldn’t take his eyes off of Bucky though.

Bucky, who’d gone pale. Eyes wide, locked on Nikki.

Swallowing thickly, Tony stepped back. He was sure Bucky wouldn’t hurt Nikki. Bucky didn’t _hurt_ people. It wasn’t in his nature to lash out in fear. But instinct and Tony’s own fear kept him from turning his back on Bucky until he’d backed up almost all the way to the hall, until there was a good distance between them. He took Nikki to her room, setting her on her bed. He wanted to stay and stroke her fur until she calmed down, but he also wanted to go catch Bucky before he inevitably ran while he could.

Nikki came first though. Always.

It took five minutes for her to wear herself out and to sleep. Tony couldn’t drag himself away for another two. He gently shut her down when he left, and, heart racing, returned to the living room. He hadn’t heard Bucky leave. He didn’t know what he’d really be walking into.

Bucky was on the couch. He was bent over, hands in his hair, and he didn’t look up even when Tony stopped a few steps away from him.

“Tell me if I’m goin’ crazy,” he finally said, voice a little hoarse and low.

“You’re not crazy,” Tony said quietly.

Bucky’s laugh was harsh and unpleasant. “I just saw a little kid turn into a fuzzy dog.”

“Wolf,” Tony corrected. He swallowed. “Nikki turned into a wolf. She usually knows better than to do that around people until I’ve said she can, but she was tired. It’s a pretty normal response for pups to shift when upset or tired.”

Bucky finally looked up, still pale, eyes a little wild looking with stress and fear. It made something deep inside Tony ache.

“Normal.”

Tony licked his lips. Swallowed again. “Normal,” he repeated. “For werewolves.”

“Werewolves. You expect me to – you….”

Tony waited, but Bucky had trailed off, and was just staring at him with wide eyes.

“We’re werewolves,” Tony finally said. “There’s not a lot of our kind, but probably more than you think. I don’t think anyone’s really done the math in decades, but one in seven was the last time anyone did a study on it.

“Christine is human, but she knew, about me. She knows about Nikki. We’re – it’s not like horror movies. We’re normal people, we just – shift into wolves. Some of our senses are stronger, like smell. We tend to be more touch intensive. Some of us live in packs, some of us just have a group of close friends that we consider pack, it doesn’t really matter much except for how many people end up knowing what you are, and how much you have to hide it day to day. We’re not dangerous,” Tony said, hearing the slightly desperate note to his own voice. “Bucky-“

Bucky held up a hand, shaking his head. His brows were pinched and he looked – overwhelmed.

“This is… a fucking lot.” He huffed a sharp breath. “You’ve been keeping a huge fucking secret this whole time and – and I don’t know _what_ to think right now. You couldn’t have said anything to me? It’s been seven months. You didn’t think I deserved to know I was dating a….”

Tony – couldn’t swallow. Could barely breathe. “I have to put Nikki first. I have to keep her safe.”

Bucky just looked at him, somehow even worse than before, like Tony had said the worst possible thing. After a moment, he shook his head, standing up roughly. “I – I need some time. To think.”

“Okay,” Tony said quietly. He wasn’t sure Bucky even heard him, though, because he was already nearing the door, not running out but close enough to it. He shut the door a little roughly, and Tony sank down onto the couch. Closing his eyes, he turned his head.

Bucky’s scent was lingering there.

Squeezing his eyes more tightly shut, Tony curled more towards that scent and let the whine that had been building in his throat the whole conversation break loose.

 

~*~*~

 

Nikki had been sad when she woke up. She’d crawled into bed with Tony, mumbling she was sorry for being bad last night and shifting when she wasn’t supposed to. Tony wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close, and kissed the top of her head.

“It’s okay pumpkin,” he murmured. His voice was hoarse. “It was an accident, I’m not mad at you.”

They cuddled in bed for a while, and then Tony got up to run her the bath she’d missed before bed last night. He left her playing with her toys while he went to make them breakfast. Pancakes. Something to cheer at least Nikki up after last night. He was sure she could smell his own melancholy. He didn’t plan on pretending that he wasn’t sad, if she asked, and he wouldn’t lie to her that things with Bucky were okay. He’d have to explain it in a way that she didn’t think she was why Bucky was gone now.

God, and Tony had tried to be so careful, making sure she didn’t get too attached to someone unless Tony was pretty sure they’d be there long term.

After he made the pancakes, he went to fetch Nikki from her bath and get her dressed. She was quiet, and very cuddly all morning. She insisted on sitting in his lap while they ate breakfast, which was tricky but not something Tony was going to turn away. As much as she was doing it for her own comfort, it was comforting to him, too. She was the best thing in his life, had been since the day she was born. The love he felt for her, and from her, dulled the ache of losing Bucky and the life Tony had been letting himself imagine with him.

Tony didn’t bother washing the dishes right away. He put them in the sink, wiped up Nikki’s hands and face, and carried her to the living room. He did not let himself look at where Bucky’s jacket was, over the back of the armchair. He’d already thrown a new throw blanket over the back of the couch, dulling what scent of Bucky’s lingered there.

He and Nikki stretched out on the couch on their sides, watching old episodes of Loony Toons Tony had DVR’d for her.

It was almost an hour and a half into their cartoons that a knock at the door startled them. It was loud and a bit frantic. Tony moved around Nikki, heading down the hall to the door. His breath caught in his throat when he caught a scent from the other side.

Heart racing hard, Tony numbly opened the door.

Bucky stared back at him, eyes wide and again a little wild. His hair was pulled back, messy like he hadn’t paid much attention. There were dark circles under his eyes.

He looked relieved, if still wired up, when he saw Tony.

“You weren’t answering your phone,” he said, a bit breathless.

“I left it in my room,” Tony said quietly.

“Oh.”

When Bucky continued to do nothing but stare at him, Tony shifted on his feet uneasily. He could hear as Nikki crept up to the doorway of the living room.

“What are you doing here?” Tony asked, keeping his voice quiet, and calm, because Nikki wasn’t far away and he didn’t want to upset her.

Bucky blinked twice, rapidly. “I – I know I said I needed time. To think.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed thickly. “But the truth is… I don’t need to. Not really. I don’t care that you hid this from me, or that you and Nikki are… different. I just – I love you. Both of you. So goddamn much. Last night doesn’t change that. I don’t know if anything can.”

Tony – was breathing a little fast. His eyes were maybe a bit wide because he was surprised. He hadn’t expected this, any of it. Not Bucky on his doorstep, not Bucky saying he didn’t care they were werewolves, not the declaration that nothing could make Bucky not love them. It was a lot. Maybe too much, because Tony’s eyes started stinging.

“Tony?” Bucky asked, taking a step forward. “I’m sorry, honey, for last night. I didn’t react well and I’m sorry.”

Tony swallowed, blinked. He was _not_ gonna cry right here, over this. He wasn’t.

Bucky stepped closer again. “I love you and Nikki both so much. I’m sorry I let myself forget just how much, for even a second, because I was scared and angry.”

The next step Bucky took put him in Tony’s reach. Tony couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat, so he did the next best thing he could. He reached out, grabbing Bucky by the collar of his shirt and yanking him in close, kissing him deeply. He heard Bucky suck in a sharp breath, and then let it out with shaky relief, kissing Tony back. They probably would have kept kissing, except a little giggle behind Tony broke them out of it. They both looked back to see Nikki peering around the living room doorway, grinning.

“Does this mean I don’t gotta not shift around Bucky anymore?”

Tony laughed, even as Bucky crouched down and held open his arms. Nikki rushed right into them, clinging to Bucky with arms and legs tightly.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay sweetpea. You don’t need to apologize to me. It’s okay.” Bucky held her tightly. When he finally stopped and they both turned towards Tony, Tony kissed her forehead, nuzzling her was well.

Knowing full well what she would probably do, Tony said, “It’s okay if you shift around Bucky now, pumpkin.”

Delighted, Nikki of course promptly shifted, wiggling around in Bucky’s arms until she could lick happily at his chin and face.

Tony bit back a laugh at the suddenly panicked look on Bucky’s face as he scrambled to keep a good hold of her. Gently, Tony reached out to lift Nikki from his arms and set her on the floor. She leapt at their legs, even as Tony grabbed Bucky’s face between his hands and pulled him closer, until their foreheads touched.

“I love you,” he murmured, and kissed Bucky deeply.

 

~*~*~

 

**Epilogue: Full**

 

_Six months later_

 

The last of Bucky’s things had been moved in and unpacked. He looked around, taking in how it looked to see his books mixed on the shelves with Tony’s, his movies with Tony’s and Nikki’s, his jackets hung by the door and his keys in the bowl, and the knowledge that his clothes were sharing space with Tony’s, that it was their bed now and not just Tony’s bed that Bucky was sleeping in.

He soaked up the knowledge that in the morning, he’d help get Nikki ready for school, and that he’d come home from work to Tony and Nikki making dinner. That he’d be there for all those great moments Tony had always told him about before over the phone, and the rougher ones too.

Right now, they were all on the couch together. Nikki was curled up over Bucky’s lap, shifted like she did what seemed like all the time now that had permission to and wasn’t worried it would scare Bucky away again. That Bucky and Tony both meant it when they told her that it was okay to do so. Her fur was soft under his hand, silky and fluffy. She had shifted in the first half hour of Toy Story, and now she was fast asleep.

Tony wasn’t fast asleep, but Bucky knew he was closer to it than awake now, dozing deeply with his head on Bucky’s shoulder. One of his arms was linked through Bucky’s, fingers tangled together. He’d nuzzled in close to Bucky’s neck earlier, something Tony had explained had to do with scents and intimacy among werewolves. Bucky didn’t mind it at all.

Looking down at the two of them, and again around what was now _their_ home, Bucky felt so much. A huge swelling of disbelief, certainly, that this was his life now. He hadn’t just found a guy he loved, who happened to have a kid that had easily stolen Bucky’s heart as well, but the two of them weren’t entirely human. And now Bucky lived with them, had their love too. Their trust, and their love, and he got moments like this one, quiet and meaningful. It filled him up with such warm contentment, so much love that he felt like he was spilling over with it.

Turning his head, Bucky pressed his lips to Tony’s hair and took a deep, steadying breath.

This was so much he had never thought to want.

He was lucky to have it now.

“Love you,” he murmured, and smile when Tony mumbled inaudibly back, nuzzling Bucky’s shoulder.


End file.
